p 

803 
L2. 


HIGGINS 

LAS  VEGAS 
HOT  SPRINGS 


BANCROFT 

LIBRARY 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


LAS  VEGAS 
HOT  SPRINGS 

ANDVICINITV 


LAS  VEGAS  HOT  SPRINGS 

AND  VICINITY. 


BY  C  A.  HIGGINS. 
H 


ISSUED  BY  THE 
PASSENGER  DEPARTMENT  SANTA  FE  ROUTE. 

February,   1898. 


I.  Something  about  Climate,  with  reference  to 
New  Mexico  in  general  and  Las  Vegas 
Hot  Springs  in  particular, 5 

II.  A  Sanatorium  for  the  Sick,  a  Recuperating- 
place  for  the  Overworked,  and  a  Pleasur- 
able Resort  for  the  rest  of  Mankind,  .  13 

III.     New  Mexican  Sketches  : 

1.  A  Backward  View, 29 

2.  Touching  Burros, 33 

3.  The  Pecos  Church, 37 

4.  Mountain  Trout  and  Quail,    ....  43 


CONTENTS. 


Something  about  Climate,  wttb  reference  to  1Rew 
dfterjco  in  general  anfc  Xas  Degas  1bot  Springs 
in  particular.  ******** 


'  N  point  of  latitude  New  Mexico  is  south- 
ern, just  as  in  point  of  longitude  it  is 
western,  for  it  lies  wholly  below  the  37th 
parallel  and  extends  southerly  beyond 
the  northern  line  of  every  one  of  the 
Gulf  States  except  Florida. 

Is  it  then  a  land  of  relaxing  winters 
and  torrid  summers?  By  no  means.  In  imagining  an 
untried  climate  in  southern  latitudes  it  is  a  common 
error  to  overlook  two  very  important  factors.  Elevation 
above  sea-level  is  the  first ;  humidity,  or  its  absence,  is 
the  second.  With  regard  to  the  first,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  an  elevation  of  approximately  800 
feet  above  any  given  level  is  climatically  equivalent  to 
a  degree  of  latitude  ;  that  is  to  say,  an  elevation  of  from 
5,600  to  7,000  feet  above  sea-level  on  the  36th  parallel 
should,  other  things  being  equal,  be  of  the  same  tem- 
perature with  sea-level  between  the  42d  and  44th  degrees 
of  north  latitude.  Now,  5,600  feet  is  the  exact  mean 
elevation  of  the  entire  Territory  of  New  Mexico  ;  thirty- 
six  degrees  is  the  approximate  latitude  of  Las  Vegas  Hot 
Springs,  and  7,000  feet  its  altitude.*  On  the  other  hand, 
all  the  New  England  seaside  summer  resorts,  from  Bar 
Harbor  to  Newport,  lie  between  the  42d  and  44th  parallels 
You  see  the  point  of  the  comparison  :  the  climate 
of  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs  would  be  practically  the 
same  as  that  of  the  New  England  coast  resorts,  pro- 
vided other  things  were  equal. 


"Actually  6,767. 


But  other  things  are  not  equal.  There  is  an  enor- 
mous difference  in  favor  of  New  Mexico,  due  to  the  almost 
entire  absence  of  humidity  from  the  atmosphere.  It  is  a 
country  of  sparse  rainfall,  and  while  it  has  several 
important  rivers  and  many  small  scattered  streams,  the 
fact  that  in  agriculture  it  is  almost  wholly  dependent 
upon  irrigation  shows  a  decided  lack  of  disseminated 
moisture.  The  reports  of  the  United  States  Signal  Serv- 
ice contain  statistics  showing  the  humidity  of  most 
localities  throughout  the  country,  and  from  those  reports 
the  following  figures  are  taken  : 

New  England  73%,  Middle  Atlantic  States  74%, 
South  Atlantic  States  79$,  Ohio  Valley  and  Tennessee 
73^,  Florida  75^,  New  York  City  72%,  San  Francisco 
76  %,  New  Orleans  79%,  Territory  of  New  Mexico  29% 
to  43  % ,  according  to  locality. 

The  contrast  presented  by  these  figures  is  still  more 
strongly  marked  when  it  is  remembered  that  by  humidity 
is  meant  only  the  amount  of  invisible  moisture  in  the  air. 
The  frequent  visitations  of  rain  and  fog  to  which  the  sea- 
side localities  named  are  subjected  make  the  amount  of 
actual  atmospheric  moisture  much  greater  there,  while 
New  Mexico  has  but  little  rain  and  never  knew  a  fog. 
The  area  of  the  territory  is  122,444  square  miles,  whose 
mean  altitude,  as  already  stated,  is  5,600 
feet.  One-fiftieth  of  that  area  rises 
above  10,000  feet,  and  it  pos- 
sesses several  mountain 
peaks  at  least  13,000 
feet  high.  This 
pronounced  alti- 
tude of  an  entire 
territory,  averaging 


nearly  as  high  as  the  famous  crest  of  New  England's 
giant,  Mount  Washington,  would  certainly  be  character- 
ized by  extreme  cold  in  winter  were  it  not,  first,  for  its 
southerly  latitude,  and  secondly,  for  the  extraordinary 
dryness  of  the  air.  In  point  of  fact,  the  combination 
of  these  three  factors  results  in  a  temperate  climate 
whose  equability  is  but  little  affected  by  summer  or 
winter  solstice. 

There  is  hardly  a  day  in  the  year  when  the  most 
sensitive  invalids  may  not  be  out  of  doors  with  impunity, 
nor  is  there  any  season  when  the  infirm  may  not  and  do 
not  make  excursions  among  the  picturesque  hills  and 
inviting  canons,  and  picnic  on  the  ground.  In  mid- 
summer the  rays  of  the  sun  are  ardent,  but  never  harm- 
ful. No  one  was  ever  overheated  in  New  Mexico  by 
work  or  exercise  in  the  sun  ;  and  in  the  shade,  and  at 
night,  it  is  always  cool,  for  the  dry,  pure  air  contains 
nothing  that  can  be  heated.  So,  in  winter,  while  nights 
are  often  cool,  they  never  approach  the  Eastern  expe- 
rience of  winter  weather,  and  with  the  rising  of  the  sun 
the  temperate  warmth  returns.  Snow  buries  the  distant 
lofty  ranges,  and  in  the  night,  at  rare  intervals,  falls 
lightly  upon  the  lower  levels,  but  never  remains  there 
save  for  a  day  or  two  in  patches  among  the  canon  shades. 


GOVERNOR'S   PALACE  AT  SANTA   FE. 
9 


One  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven  days  of  unclouded  sky, 
one  hundred  and  thirty-nine 
days  when  sunshine  pre- 
dominates, and  thirty-nine 
cloudy  days  make  up  the 
average  year  in  New  Mexico, 
and  of  the  thirty-nine  days  that  are  cloudy  there  is 
hardly  one  on  which  the  sun  does  not  shine  at  least  a 
part  of  the  time.  On  account  of  this  preponderance  of 
clear  sky  the  territory  has  long  been  known  as  The 
Land  of  Sunshine.  How  it  can  be  a  land  of  sunshine  in 
southern  latitudes  and  be  free  from  oppressive  summer 
heat,  and  how  it  can  lie  at  an  altitude  equal  to  that  of 
the  White  Mountains  and  be  free  from  severe  winter 
cold,  should  now  be  plain. 

But  what  is  the  average  summer  and  winter  tempera- 
ture ?  Now,  of  all  the  irresponsible  combinations  known 
to  numbers,  the  most  abandoned  is  probably  the  average ; 
and  of  all  averages  the  mean  temperature  of  a  given 
locality  is,  without  any  doubt,  the  most  barren  of 
information.  Imagine,  if  you  please,  a 
country  whose  temperature  is  uniformly  in 

summer  61°, 
and  in  winter 
59° ;  and  an- 
other whose 
summer  and 
winter  tem- 
peratures are 
respectively 
100°  and  20°. 
The  average 


CAMPING   OUT  ON  THE  QALLINAS. 


temperature  of  each  country  is  60°,  yet  the  one  where 
the  thermometer  blisters  for  six  months  and  congeals 
the  rest  of  the  time  is  represented  by  the  same  figure 
as  the  other  where  there  is  a  variation  of  only  2°  in  all 
the  year. 

The  record  of  five  years'  observations  at  Las  Vegas 
Hot  Springs  gave  the  following  mean  temperatures  : 

January  41.0,  February  49.0,  March  56.0,  April  58.0, 
May  61.4,  June  71.4,  July  74.0,  August  71.9,  September 
65.0,  October  55.4,  November 
53.7,  December  52.0,  or  a  mean 
annual  temperature  of  59.07. 
What  this  record  cannot  com- 
municate is  the  fact  that  the 
citizen  of  New  Mexico  has 
his  cold  winter  weather  at 
night,  when  he  sits  by  the  fire 
or  lies  in  bed  under  an  extra 
blanket;  while  by  day  he 
hardly  knows  the  use  of  an 
overcoat.  It  does  not  commu- 
nicate the  fact  that  in  mid- 
summer the  blanket  is  still  in 
demand,  but  the  heat  of  noon- 
day is  never  distressful. 

In  the  East  the  .mean  an- 
nual temperature  is  an  averag- 
ing of  violent  extremes  of  heat 
and  cold.  In  New  Mexico  it 
represents  the  habitual  rather 
than  the  average. 


CANON  ABOVE  LAS  VEGAS  HOT  SPRINGS. 


II. 


Sanatorium  for  tbe  Sicfc,  a  1Recuperatin0*place 
for  tbe  ©verworfcefc,  ano  a  pleasurable  IResort 
for  tbe  rest  of 


'T  happens  that  there  is  scarce  another 
known  climate  so  absolutely  friendly 
to  man  and  so  valuable  an  ally  against 
the  innumerable  forms  of  disease  that 
lour  upon  him  all  the  way  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave.  Its  equability  at 
a  comfortable  temperature,  its  pure 
air  free  from  humidity  and  rarefied  by  altitude,  and  its 
almost  unclouded  sun,  render  New  Mexico  the  most  de- 
sirable resort  in  the  world  for  those  who  are  afflicted 
with  any  form  of  lung  or  throat  disease ;  and  as  such 
it  is  rapidly  being  adopted  by  the  medical  fraternity, 
not  only  in  the  United  States  but  in  several  countries 
abroad.  It  is  a  fact  that  New  Mexico  numbers  among 
its  energetic  and  prosperous  citizens  hundreds  who, 
leaving  their  Eastern  or  Northern  homes  a  few  years 
ago  with  no  better  hope  than  to  prolong  by  a  few 
months  a  life  apparently  doomed  to  speedy  termination 
by  the  scourge  of  our  time,  consumption,  have  there 
regained  perfect  health  and  the  promise  of  a  long  and 
happy  existence.  And  many  others  annually  desert 
the  harsher  regions  and  repair  to  New  Mexico  at  the 
approach  of  winter  to  preserve  their  lives.  It  is  certain 
that  consumption  can  be  arrested,  and  even  permanently 
cured,  by  residence  there,  if  the  change  be  made  in 
time.  And  the  climate  that  can  not  only  withstand  but 
conquer  so  terrible  an  adversary  is  a  match  likewise  for 


a  long  array  of 
other  less  formi- 
dable human  ail- 
ments. Are  you 
aware  for  how  few 
localities  in  the 
whole  world  such  a 
sweeping  claim  can 

VIEW  FROM  THE  MONTEZUMA  BALCONY.  be    made    without 

violation  of  the  truth  ?  Do  you  know  that  the  compli- 
cations of  disease  find  some  fatal  flaw  in  nearly  every 
variety  of  climate  ?  Even  New  Mexico  makes  one  excep- 
tion in  welcoming  the  sick.  High  altitudes  are  com- 
monly regarded  as  aggravating  to  pronounced  heart  dis- 
ease, and  sufferers  from  that  malady  in  an  advanced 
stage  are  not  advised  to  go  there  for  relief;  but  every 
other  class  of  invalid  may  confidently  anticipate  the  most 
kindly  treatment,  for  those  ailments  which  the  soft  min- 
istrations of  climate  alone  cannot  wholly  obviate  yield 
when  such  ministrations  are  supplemented  by  the  medic- 
inal virtues  of  the  Springs,  to  specific  mention  of  which 
at  last  we  are  come. 

Half  a  dozen  miles  northwest  from  the  old  town  of 
Las  Vegas  they  bubble  out  of  the  hillside,  some  forty  of 
theni,  varying  in  temperature  from  ice-cold  to  boiling- 
hot,  but  most  of  them  ranging  from  110°  to  140°  Fahren- 
heit. 

How  long  their  curative  properties  have  been  known 
to  man  it  is  idle  to  speculate,  for  the  region  has  been 
peopled  for  many  centuries,  perhaps  for  thousands  of 
years ;  but  their  fame  among  Mexicans  and  Indians  led 
to  the  establishment  there  of  a  frontier  United  States 
army  hospital  nearly  fifty  years  ago,  while  yet  the 


NEW   MEXICAN   FRUITS. 


northern  and 
western  bounds 
of  Texas  were  the 
Arkansas  River 
and  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  all 
west  of  the  Rio 
Grand  e  and 
south  of  Oregon 
was  Spanish  dominion,  and  the  wilderness  had  been 
penetrated  by  very  few  of  Anglo-Saxon  race.  Since  that 
time  numberless  cases  of  nearly  every  form  of  disease 
susceptible  of  mitigation  have  been  either  entirely 
cured  or  greatly  alleviated  by  the  liberal  use  of  these 
spring  waters  in  drinking  and  bathing,  aided  by  the 
health-restoring  influences  of  the  climate. 

While  a  chemical  analysis  has  no  particular  value  for 
the  average  unprofessional  reader,  it  is  a  certificate  of 
character  to  such  as  understand  its  meaning.  The 
waters  of  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs,  therefore,  have  been 
subjected  to  careful  test  by  Dr.  Walter  S.  Haines,  Pro- 
fessor of  Chemistry,  Rush  Medical  College,  who  states 
that  in  many  respects  they  resemble  in  chemical  com- 
position the  waters  of 
the  famous  hot  springs 
of  Teplitz  and  Karlsbad, 
and  finds  them  to  contain 
special  ingredients  in 
the  amounts  set  down 
below,  for  every  standard 
gallon  : 


Carbonate  of  Calcium    0.89  grains. 

Carbonate  of  Magnesium 0.15 

Carbonate  of  Sodium 8.38 

Carbonate  of  Potassium 0.28 

Sulphate  of  Sodium 3.35 

Chloride  of  Sodium 14.68 

Silica 3.50 

Alumina o.io 

Volatile  and  Organic  Matter 0.32 

Carbonate  of  Lithium Traces. 

Bromide  of  Sodium Trace. 


TOTAL 31-65  grains. 


DINING   ROOM,  THE   MONTEZUMA. 

Ask  your  family  physician  whether  or  not  hot  natural 
spring  water  so  charged  with  chemicals  should  possess 
remedial  qualities.  He  will  tell  you  that  it  belongs  to 
the  class  termed  Alkaline-Saline,  and  is  beneficial  in 
cases  of  acute  and  chronic  rheumatism,  gout,  blood- 
poisoning,  diseases  of  the  skin,  glandular  and  scrofulous 
diseases,  mental  exhaustion,  debility,  spinal  troubles, 
nervous  affections,  dyspepsia,  hay  fever,  asthma,  catarrh, 


18 


and  a  long  list  of  other  maladies 
which  for  want  of  space  must  be 
compressed  into  et  cetera,  et  cetera. 
The  lithia  and  sulphur  elements 
which  predominate  in  some  of  the 
springs  are  of  special  medicinal 
value. 

A  combination  of  climate  and 
mineral  water  exists  at  L,as  Vegas 
Hot  Springs  which  will  effectually 
rout  almost  any  curable  disease. 
The  invalid  who  can  sit  in  that  sun- 
shine and  breathe  that  air;  can  drink  \^ 
that  water,  bathe  in  the  flow  of  it,  steam 
in  the  vapor  of  it,  lie  packed  in  the  mud  of 
it,  and  hold  fast  to  his  disease  through  it  all,  has  never 
yet  been  met  with.  Even  imaginary  ailments  give  way 
before  forces  so  potent  for  good. 

No  one  who  has  taken  a  Turkish  bath  ever  again 
flatters  himself  he  is  next  door  to  godliness  after  a  com- 
mon ablution  with  soap  and  water ;  and  just  as  the 
Turkish  bath  searches  out  and  removes  unsuspected^ex- 
ternal  accumulations  of  foreign  matter,  so  do  repeated 
draughts  of  and  baths  in  these  hot  medicated  waters 
piped  directly  from  their  hillside  environment  with 
almost  no  loss  of  temperature,  wash  the  entire  system 
free  from  its  impurities  and  leave  the  body  clean.  A 
favorite  bath  here 
is  administered 
by  immersion  in 
peat  mud.  It  is 
recommended  for 
disorders  of  the 
blood. 


IN  THE  MEXICAN   QUARTER. 


Is  not  that,  then,  a  favored  spot,  where  healing 
waters  gush  forth  in  unstinted  flow,  amid  surroundings 
which,  even  were  there  no  medicinal  fountains,  would 
still  be  unrivaled  in  the  possession  of  recuperative 
elements  ? 

And  when  to  these  are  added  vistas  of  grass-grown 
meadows  between  the  notches  of  hills  set  thick  with 
pine  and  fir,  watered  by  a  stream  that  flows  out  from 
steep  rocky  walls  into  winding  courses  beneath  the 
shade  of  willow  and  alder  and  aspen  and  maple,  idling 
here  and  there  in  transparent  pools  to  have  a  word 
with  the  trout ;  canons  penetrating  the  mountain  sides, 
overhung  by  precipices  faced  with  tree  and  crag ;  lofty 
lookouts  and  deep  secret  dells,  and  far  glimpses  of 
purple  shadowed  ranges  knocking  their  heads  against 
the  distant  sky  ;  must  not  such  a  spot  be  worth  going 
far  to  see  and  know  ? 

Well,  that  is  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs,  only  with  a 
greater  diversity  of  beauty  and  a  subtler  charm  than  so 
brief  a  description  can  convey.  Nature  did  not  design 
it  for  the  sick  alone,  although  for  them  she  made  partic- 
ular provision  ;  the  tourist  who  desires  a  new  sensation  ; 
the  student  of  the  ruins  of  antiquity ;  the  dreamer  who 
delights  in  mementos  and  suggestions  of  a  romantic  and 
irrecoverable  past ;  the  lover  of 
nature  who  prizes  imper- 
ishable memories  of 
exalted  scenic 
beauty;  the 
sportsman,  dev- 
otee of  the  rod 
and  gun ;  the 
man  of  business 

.     THE   BATH    HOUSE. 


who  seeks  relief  from  haras- 
sing cares  in  a  retirement  at 
once  secluded  and  invigor- 
ating ;  and  the  vast  general 
public  that  appreciates  the 
delights  and  benefits  of  an 
occasional  sojourn  in  some 
favored  spot  where  the  climate 
is  mild,  the  sunshine  constant 
and  the  air  inspiring,  and  where 
rest,  health  and  profitable  pleasures 
are  combined  ;  —  these,  equally  with  the  invalid  in  quest 
of  surroundings  whose  medicinal  virtues  shall  restore  his 
vanished  health,  are  welcome  guests.  They  will  find  at 
Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs  not  only  the  natural  attractions 
that  have  been  described  and  suggested,  but  a  crowning 
provision  for  their  comfort  and  happiness  in  the  luxu- 
rious and  perfectly  appointed  Montezuma,  —  the  only 
thing  that  was  wanting,  after  the  completion  of  the  rail- 
road, to  place  this  ideal  sanatorium  at  the  service  of  all 
mankind.  The  Montezuma  is  a  surprise  and  delight  to 
visitors,  no  matter  what  they  may  have  been 
led  to  expect  before  going  to  the  Springs, 
for  it  is  not  easy  to  believe  in  the  actual 
existence  of  a  structure  so  extensive 
and  magnificent,  so  complete  and 
modern  in  every  particular,  nestled 
against  the  side  of  a  canon  far  from 
the  accustomed  home  of  lavish  ex- 
penditure. The  dream  of  a  genie 
slumbering  amid  his  treasures;  that 
is  The  Montezuma. 

In    this    four-story   stone    edifice, 


with  its  numerous  apartments,  there  is  ample  accommo- 
dation for  several  hundred  guests,  while  the  spacious 
sunny  verandas  (fifteen  feet  in  width,  a  tenth  of  a  mile 
in  length)  afford  abundant  room  for  a  multitude  by  day 
or  night.  Steam  heat,  electric  lights  and  all  other  mod- 
ern conveniences  are  provided.  The  baths  are  close  at 
hand,  with  every  facility  and  every  modern  method  of 
application  under  the  direction  of  specially  trained 
attendants,  and  a  competent  physician.  The  bath  house 
is  a  commodious  structure,  fitted  up  with  all  necessarj7 
appliances.  The  plunge  pool  is  an  enjoyable  feature. 
Saddle  horses,  ponies,  burros  and  a  variety  of  convey- 
ances are  at  the  disposal  of  those  who  wish  to  penetrate 
farther  into  mountain  solitudes  than  they  care  to  walk. 
Guides  also  are  provided  when  desired. 

The  outdoor  treatment  is  as  much  of  a  feature  here 
as  that  given  under  cover,  great  stress  being  laid  upon 
the  remedial  value  of  pure  air  and  sunshine.  For  long 
periods  some  patients  at  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs  prefer  to 


THE  FOUNTAIN,   LAS   VEGAS   HOT  SPRINGS. 
22 


sleep  out  of  doors  at 
night,  and  they  expe- 
rience benefit  from 
the  practice.  Others 
spend  from  eighteen 
to  twenty-one  hours 
daily  in  the  open  air. 
There  are  trout  for 
fishermen;  quail, 
ducks  and  geese 
abound,  and  larger 
game  may  be  found 
in  the  forest  by  hunt- 
ers who  crave  the  rewards  of  a  more  toilsome  chase. 
Decayed  monuments  of  prehistoric  peoples  exist  for  the 
beguilement  of  the  archaeologist  and  historian.  Music, 
dancing,  billiards  and  bowling  are  provided  for  the 
lovers  of  such  pleasures,  the  large  entertainment  hall 
being  a  feature  of  the  place.  And  yet,  so  broad  and 
peaceful  is  the  environment,  an  air  of  quiet  rest  pervades 
the  scene,  and  the  invalid  is  undisturbed  by  the  activities 
of  his  more  robust  fellows.  It  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  encompassing  foothills,  which  protect  the  place 
from  severe  winds,  are  an  important  factor  in  promoting 
that  restfulness  which  is  so  needful  in  nervous  afflictions. 

And  this  resort  possesses  certain  negative  virtues. 
It  has  no  malaria ;  hay  fever  is  unknown  ;  epidemics 
of  acute  intestinal  diseases  never  occur ;  there  are  no 
hot  nights  and  no  sultry  days. 

Neither  need  one  contemplate  from  afar  the  possible 
fatigue  of  a  journey.  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs  is  less 
than  two  days'  ride  by  rail  from  Chicago  and  St.  Louis, 
and  trains  carrying  palace  sleeping  cars  and  reclining 


chair  cars  pass  Las  Vegas  daily,  affording  comfort- 
ensuring  facilities. 

Round-trip  tickets  to  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs  at  greatly 
reduced  rates  may  be  purchased  —  particulars  obtainable 
of  any  Santa  Fe  Route  agent. 

Dr.  Wm.    Curtiss   Bailey,   physician   in   charge,    has 


BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW   OF  THE   MONTEZUMA, 

provided  a  system  of  treatment,  administered  by  skilled 
nurses  and  other  attendants,  calculated  to  give  Las 
Vegas  Hot  Springs  high  rank  as  a  sanatorium.  Those 
desiring  advice  as  to  the  adaptability  of  the  climate  and 
waters  and  of  the  treatment  to  individual  cases  are 


invited  to  confer  with  him  freely  by  mail,  addressing 
him  at  The  Montezuma.  Business  communications  may 
be  addressed  to  W.  G.  Greenleaf,  manager. 

One  unacquainted  with  the  forward  strides  made  by 
New  Mexico  along  the  line  of  material  comforts  may 
imagine  that  The  Montezuma  bill  of  fare  is  a  restricted 


BATH    HOUSE  AND   SURROUNDINGS. 


one ;  that,  for  example,  it  cannot  compare  with  the 
dining-room  service  of  Eastern  resort  inns.  Be  assured 
then,  that  nothing  is  lacking  at  The  Montezuma  which 
the  most  fastidious  appetite  might  hunger  for.  All 
the  staples  and  luxuries  are  furnished  in  their  season. 


A  near-by  farm,  belonging  to  the  establishment,  con- 
tributes choice  home-grown  fruits  and  vegetables  of  a 
quality  and  variety  unsurpassed  in  the  Southwest.  The 
Montezuma  herd  supplies  the  very  best  of  pure  milk, 
thick  cream  and  yellow  butter,  and  the  juiciest  meats  are 
brought  from  adjacent  stock  ranges.  These  are  cooked 
and  served  in  the  highest  style  of  the  culinary  art. 
There  is  also  a  flock  of  forty  goats,  whose  milk  is  served 
regularly  at  table,  free  of  charge,  to  those  who  desire  it. 
The  community  of  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs  is  perhaps 
unique  in  one  particular.  The  usual  sanatorium  consists 
of  one  or  more  buildings  and  is  bounded  by  four  walls, 
within  which,  as  in  a  sick-room,  the  business  of  recuper- 
ation is  confined.  But  here  is  a  village  dedicated  to  the 
restoration  of  health  and  under  perfect  sanitary  control. 
The  only  feature  that  conforms  to  the  accustomed  idea 
of  a  sanatorium  is  the  hospital,  which  is  separated  from 
The  Montezuma  by  a  sufficient  distance  to  be  unobtrusive. 


9 


III. 


mew  /I&estcan  Sfeetcbes. 


A  BACKWARD  VIEW. 

'OOK  out  from  the  open  window  of  your 
room  in  The  Montezuma,  through  which 
a  cool,  sweet  current  is  gently  blowing. 
Far  below,  at  the  foot  of  the  path  that 
winds  along  green  terraces,  a  fountain 
plays  among  the  trees  and  shrubs  of  the 
plaza,  behind  which,  as  also  to  the  right,  rise  steep 
tree-clad  slopes,  sierras  cresting  an  elevation  already 
more  than  a  mile  above  the  sea.  To  the  left  the  vegas 
stretch  away  for  sixty  miles,  their  undulations  softened 
by  distance  into  an  inviting  plain  of  every  conceivable 
shade  of  green,  gilded  by  the  morning  sun.  Rest, 
peace,  security,  everywhere  meet  the  sight.  It  is  a 
hushed  sabbath  of  beneficent  nature,  made  more 
impressive  by  recollection  of  a  time,  not  long  past, 
when  romance  and  terror  lurked  beneath  the  same 
smiling  face  of  that  landscape,  then  no  less  inviting, 
no  less  fair.  And  as  you  gaze  you  will  reflect  upon  a 
still  older  time,  when  down  the  mountain  side  and 
out  over  the  grassy  vegas,  his  eye  beholding  nearly 
the  precise  picture  upon  which  yours  dwells,  strode 
an  heroic  pioneer,  a  knight  in  clanking  armor,  a 
gigantic  figure  in  romantic  annals — the  First  Invader. 


WOMEN   OF  THE   PUEBLOS. 


It  is  easy  to  fancy 
yourself  face  to  face 
with  the  sixteenth 
century.  You  almost 
look  for  the  print  of 
the  knight's  heel  in 
the  grass.  It  was 
yesterday  he  passed. 
And  there  is  a  legend 
that  if  one  should 
journey  eastward  for 
many  wearisome 
hazardous  months 

one  would  come  upon  Atlantic  shores,  but  meet  no  living 
soul  except  lost  heathen.     And  to  the  north  and  west 
lies  an  unexplored  land  of  undetermined  bounds,  full 
of  allurement  and  mystery  and  peril.     It  is  the  genius 
of  the  true  Christian  to  adventure  and  win  earth  from 
pagan  rule.     Great  will   be   the   reward   of  endeavor. 
The  entire   kingdom,   a   thousand    leagues   across   the 
sea,  is  agog  for  news  of  the  New  World.     Already  in 
anticipation  its  acclamations  greet  the  hungry  ear  of 
the  warrior  who  is  resolved  to  plant  its  banner  in  the 
heart  of  an  unclaimed  wilderness  and  bring  under  the 
dominion  of  the  Cross  unnumbered 
multitudes  of  benighted  souls. 
But  the  way  is  hard ;  graves 
lie  scattered  behind ;  and 
the  soldiers  murmur 
and  wonder  whose 
sturdy  frame  will  next 
succumb  to  the  rigors 
of  the   task,    whose 


voice  will  next  be  missed  from  the  camp-fire  song. 
Yesterday?  He  stands  before  you  now,  that  Invader, 
his  stern,  swart  face  bent  uncompromisingly  on  you, 
faint-hearted  follower  that  you  are,  his  extended  arm 
still  northward  pointing.  "Forward,  for  God  and 
Spain!"  he  thunders.  But  with  a  sensation  of  relief 
entirely  unheroic,  you  will  scramble  back  to  the 
extreme  rear  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  go  to 
breakfast  instead. 


Yet,  in  spite  of  the  romantic  achievements  of  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  never  was  there  more 
miraculous  doing  on  the  face  of  this  round  world  than 
in  our  own  time.  The  soldier  in  armor  threaded  a 
perilous  way  over  these  mountains  and  across  these 
upland  plains  and  lifted  here  the  standard  of  Spain  ; 
and  the  wilderness  closed  behind  him  upon  a  bedouin 
race  un  conquered  and  unyielding.  The  locomotive 
came,  morning  sun  of  our  later  day,  and  the  bedouin 


fled ;  and  the  scattering  mist  revealed  the  benignant 
Saxon  ruling  the  land,  irresistible  and  serene.  It  is 
well  that  he  is  benignant,  that  Saxon,  for  he  is  a  terrible 
man.  Or,  rather,  he  is  the  manifestation  of  a  law  of 
earth  that  out  of  the  north  and  east  shall  come  strength 
and  power.  The  west  wind  never  wafted  the  fleet  of  a 
conqueror,  the  tropics  never  threw  victorious  armies  into 
the  upper  zones ;  the  shadow  of  the  dominant  man 
advances  with  the  sun,  and  Boreas  is  at  his  back.  He 
built  The  Montezuma.  Yonder,  if  you  seek  the  con- 
trast, observe  the  chief  commemorative  monument  of 
his  world-subjugating  predecessor  —  a  squat  adobe  hut, 
inhabited  by  a  brown-faced,  black-eyed,  black-haired 
family,  picturesque  in  appearance,  courtly  in  manner, 
but  insulated,  isolated,  as  foreign  to  our  real  American 
life  as  if  they  dwelt  beyond  the  sea.  As  for  the 
bedouin  Indian,  you  shall  seek  an  example  of  his 
prime  in  vain.  Only  cowed  remnants  of  him  are 
scattered  here  and  there,  disrep- 
utably arrayed,  dethroned  and 
t  ridiculous. 

And  while  you  are  making 
onset  upon  an  excellent  morning 
meal  in  the  aesthetic  dining  hall 
of  The  Montezuma,  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  adobes  will  be  mas- 
ticating dried  kid  and  chili.  The 
aborigine  has  apparently  schooled 
himself  not  to  eat,  since  the  pillag- 
ing of  the  Saxon  is  become  for 
him  a  thing  forever  past. 


OLD    CHURCH.   SANTA   FE. 


TOUCHING    BURROS. 

fVERY  living  creature  is  respectable  in  his 
native  environment.  Only  when  trans- 
lated into  foreign  surroundings  is  he 
wanting  in  validity.  In  contemplating 
an  occasional  imported  specimen  of  the 
burro  in  the  East  it  is  possible  you  have 
never  taken  him  seriously.  In  New  Mexico,  then,  you 
will  make  amends,  for  you  will  find  him  entirely 
authentic  in  his  own  realm. 

Unenterprising,  fond  of  his  ease,  opinionated,  and  a 
doubter ;  that  is  the  burro  in  outline,  up  to  his  ears. 
As  for  those  huge  organs,  they  were  evolved  to  enable 
him  to  catch  the  faintest  first  whisper  of  a  command  to 
relapse  into  statuesque  inactivity.  In  point  of  fact,  they 
serve  him  even  better,  for  he  often  chooses  to  imagine 
that  such  mandate  has  issued  from  his  rider,  and  arro- 
gant in  the  possession  of  his  appalling,  winglike 
appendages  he  stops,  absolutely  —  and,  so  far  as  may 
reasonably  be  inferred  from  his 
manner,  forever.  It  avails  noth- 
ing with  him  to  argue 
that  you  never  said  it. 
He  droops  an  ear 
gratefully,  relaxes  a 
hind  leg,  shifts 
his  equipoise  over 


upon  the  remaining  tripod,  and  waits  for  the  end  of  the 
world.  Only  the  most  emphatic  prodding  will  persuade 
him  to  resume  his  reluctant  way.  If  he  should  manifest 
any  seeming  inclination  toward  alacrity  it  will  be  due  to 
his  discovery  that  you  object  to  traveling  in  a  direction 
contrary  to  that  in  which  your  destination  happens  to  lie. 
In  the  flash  of  such  a  divination  he  is  capable  of  volun- 
tary activity,  and  will  even  break  into  a  jog  trot  for  a 
distance  of  twenty  yards— an  entirely  unprofitable  ebulli- 
tion of  energy,  if  you  are  considering  your  own  interests, 
for  his  progress  is  sidelong,  radiate,  tangential,  what  you 
will  except  onward  to  the  path  of  your  choice. 

It  is  better  not  to  betray  a  purpose  when  mounted 
upon  a  burro ;  at  any  rate,  no  other  purpose  than  that 
he  shall  keep  in  motion.  To  effect  this  you  will  find  the 
best  weapon  a  goad,  improvised  from  a  stout  stick,  whit- 
tled to  a  point.  Prod  him  with  this  resolutely,  vigorously, 
frantically ;  prod  him  unceasingly.  You 
will  not  offend  him.  He  expects  it. 
He  seems  to  like  it  But  do  not 
ask  him  to  follow  so  logical  a 
sequence  as  a  path — above  all 
the  right  path.  Beat  about 
the  bush,  and  the  crag,  and 
behave  as  if  you  were  going 
nowhere  in  particular.  Tack 
him,  jibe  him,  ease  him  off  the 


instant  he  appears  to  divine  your  secret.  If  your  course 
lies  directly  to  the  north,  be  content  with  northwest, 
northeast,  and  even  occasionally  south-southwest ;  and 
if  you  find  yourself  drifting  too  decidedly  into  southern 
latitudes,  act  as  if  you  were  eagerly  bound  for  the  tropics  ; 
you  can  fool  him. 

It  is  well  to  change  the  goad  frequently  from  hand  to 
hand.  This  not  only  enables  you  to  bear  up  longer 
against  fatigue,  but  doubles  the  likelihood  of  finding  a 
vulnerable  spot  in  his  callous  epidermis.  When  your 
strength  finally  fails  you  can  walk.  You  can  always 
find  your  burro  again  when  you  want  him.  To  be 
entirely  truthful,  that  is  the  worst  of  a  burro,  that  you 
are  morally  certain  to  find  him  where  you  left  him, 
whether  you  want  to  or  not,  unless  you  have  been 
absent  so  long  that  hunger  has  forced  him  to  move. 

The  present  writer  does  not  regard  himself  as  gen- 
erally either  an  astute  or  a  vindictive  person,  but  it 
gives  him  a  malicious  satisfaction  to  this  day  to  remem- 
ber how  he  avenged  himself  on  his  first  (and  last) 
burro,  abandoned  in  despair  on  an  outward  trip  some 
three  miles  from  The  Montezuma.  Returning,  some 
few  hours  later,  he  passed  the  contentedly  waiting 
creature  without  a  glance  of  recognition  and  footed  it 
back  to  the  hotel  with  a  merry  heart,  alone.  Next  morn- 
ing, they  said,  the  burro  was  found  behind  the  stable, 
limp,  despondent;  disgusted,  his  long  cheeks  bedewed 
with  tears,  his  air  proclaiming  the  shadowed,  mis- 
anthropic soul  of  one  who  has  been  betrayed  by  man 
and  possesses  an  ineradicable  grievance.  He  had 
expected  to  be  pushed  home. 


35 


3 
THE  PECOS  CHURCH. 

?ROM  the  window  of  the  Pullman  car,  two 
hours'  ride  below  Las  Vegas,  may  be  seen, 
a  few  miles  away,  a  strange  brown  ruin 
standing  like  a  dismantled  castle  upon  a 
fortress-like  elevation  overlooking  the  sur- 
rounding plain.  It  is  one  of  the  Missions 
founded  by  Franciscan  monks,  nobody  appears  to  know 
exactly  when,  but  doubtless  soon  after  the  Spanish  inva- 
sion, and  something  like  three  hundred  years  ago.  On 
account  of  its  location  at  the  Pecos  pueblo  it  is  locally 
known  as  the  Pecos  Church.  Abandoned,  solitary,  form- 
ing with  the  adjacent  debris  of  still  more  ancient  struc- 
tures the  only  visible  sign  and  handiwork  of  man  in 
that  lonely  valley,  it  was  once  the  center  of  a  busy 
throng,  and  often  the  scene  of  savage  warfare. 

It  may  be  reached  by  a  four-mile  drive  from  the 
small  station  Rowe,  over  that  highway  of  romantic 
memory,  the  old  Santa  Fe.  Trail.  Although  a  valley 
hemmed  in  by  mountains,  the  land  is  elevated  some 
7,000  feet  above  the  sea.  It  stretches  broadly  before 
the  eye,  an  arable  plain,  unbroken  save  by  occa- 
sional arroyos  and  the  single  mound  that  rises  nearly 
in  the  center,  buttressed  on  three  sides  by  enor- 
mous crags,  bastions  invulnerable  to  the  assault  of 
an  enemy,  although  the  hand  of  man  had  nothing  to 

37 


do  with  its  building.  Upon  this  natural  elevation  the 
ruin  stands  like  a  watch-tower,  an  adobe  shell,  roofless 
and  desolate,  backed  by  the  de"bris  of  what  was  once 
a  pueblo,  a  tribal  Indian  home.  Stern  must  have  been 
the  necessity  that  forced  a  peaceful  primitive  people 
like  the  Pueblos  to  choose  a  stronghold  for  their 
dwelling  place,  and  doubtless  the  Franciscan  Fathers 
bowed  to  the  same  necessity  in  building  their  church 
upon  the  crown  of  that  citadel ;  for  though  there  is 


RUINS  OF  THE  PECOS  CHURCH. 

still  discernible  an  old  irrigating  ditch  in  evidence  of 
once  fruitful  fields  and  agricultural  occupations,  in  two 
hours'  search  you  may  find  upon  the  surface  of  the 
slopes  of  the  mound  a  double  handful  of  arrow  heads, 
fashioned  from  flint  and  jasper  and  saw-toothed  obsidian  ; 
cruel,  jagged  things,  shot  by  those  untamable  wild 
men  whose  nature  is  to  make  relentless  war  upon  every 
people  except  their  own. 


Little  is  known  of  the  history  of  the  Pecos  Church  ; 
nothing  whatever  that  is  trustworthy  of  the  origin  of 
the  Pueblos,  who  differ  from  the  roving  Indian  tribes 
almost  as  widely  as  if  they  were  not  Indians  at  all. 
Say  that  they  were  stragglers  who  lagged  behind  in  the 
great  southward  march  of  the  Toltecs  twelve  hundred 
years  ago,  and  no  really  well-informed  person  will  be 
likely  to  dispute  you.  But  the  main  story  of  the  ruined 
church  is  readable  upon  its  crumbling  walls.  To  a 
peaceful,  populous  village  of  those  mysterious  Pueblo 
Indians,  huddled  in  their  curious  apartment  houses  of 
adobe  and  stones  upon  the  summit  of  this  mound, 
came  the  old  Spanish  priests,  and  preached  the  gospel ; 
and  for  the  better  preaching  they  builded  a  Mission 
and  there  dwelt  for  a  space  of  years  with  their  flock  ; 
and  by  and  by  they  went  away  ;  and  they  and  their 
flock  are  no  more. 

Inclined  to  religious  rites,  to  peace  and  the  gentle 
pursuits  of  agriculture,   the  Pecos  Indians  , 
still  were  stubborn  fighters  for  their  homes 
and  their  kin.     Their  enemies  were  unable 
to  dislodge  them,  unless  the  final  removal 
of  the  remnant  of  the  tribe  some  fifty  years 
ago  was  an  ultimate  concession  to  hostility. 
At  any  rate  they  remained  long  after  the 
priests  had  departed,  and  so  long  as  they 
remained  (so  the  tradition  runs),  there 
ceased  not  from  the  altar  of  the  church      • 
erected  to  the  glory  of  the  Catholic 
faith  a  fire,  by  night  or  day,  a  vestal 
flame,  maintained  by  the  Pueblos  in 
expectation  of  Montezumd's  return 
to  earth  and  power. 


The  demi-gods  have 
their  habitat  as  surely  as 
plant  or  animal  species. 
Each  must  be  sought 
upon  his  particular 
Olympus ;  and  because 
Montezuma  is  not  to 
be  found  within  the  boundaries  of  New  England, 
nor  anywhere  upon  the  prairies  of  the  Western  states, 
one  must  not  therefore  deny  him  in  the  land  of  echo- 
ing canons,  of  desert  tracts,  of  cacti,  of  lofty  altitudes, 
and,  withal,  of  abundant  verdure,  flowers  and  fruits, 
and  of  pure  air  and  sunshine.  Although  you  may  be 
justified  in  hearkening  to  the  tradition  of  the  vestal 
flame  with  mental  reservations,  and  may  have  a  shrewd 
notion  that  the  divinity  Montezuma  is  but  an  apotheo- 
sized Aztec  emperor  fallen  heir  to  the  old  clothes  of 
the  god  of  his  worship,  Quetzalcoatl,  you  will  not 
unlikely  gain  a  juster  sense  of  the  difficulties  of 
engrafting  the  idealism  of  a  higher  race  upon  the 
superstitions  of  a  lower.  And  while  you  muse  by  the 
walls  of  the  old  church  and  try  to  picture  a  rotund, 
shaven,  tonsured,  cowled  company  of  godly  men  in 
such  an  incongruous  setting,  three  centuries  ago,  and 
then  view  the  tremendous  gulf  that  intervenes  between 
that  time  and  the  day  when  the  stones  upon  which 
you  sit  were  first  piled  into  rude  dwellings  for  man,  you 
may  reflect  that  the  evolution  of  pagan  gods  is  a  very 
human  thing.  As  distance  is  the  first  essential  of  a 
landscape,  so  some  degree  of  remoteness  in  experience 
or  space  or  time  is  necessary  to  the  appreciation  of 
poetic  beauty,  and,  perhaps,  in  turn  creates  it.  We 
dream  of  yesterday  and  tomorrow.  Nobody  ever  wrote 


40 


an  ode  to  the  noonday  sun ;  it  is  only  his  rising  and 
setting  that  limners  paint  and  poets  sing ;  the  day  that 
is  gone,  and  the  day  that  will  come.  There  is  no 
people,  no  land,  so  poor  in  poetry  as  not  to  possess  a 
yesterday.  Everywhere  you  will  find  some  tradition  of 
an  Odysseus,  a  Buddha,  a  Moses.  "To  every  nation," 
says  the  Koran,  "God  hath  given  a  prophet  in  its  own 
tongue."  And  in  whatsoever  manner  his  own  may 
have  received  him,  time  deals  liberally  with  a  great 
man.  It  will  not  have  him  appear  quite  mortal  to  the 
distant  view.  It  swathes  him  in  atmospheric  haze  that 
obliterates  something  of  his  human  outline,  and  more 
and  more  as  we  recede.  Who  among  living  monarchs 
can  be  compared  to  King  Solomon  ?  And  can  another 
Cleopatra  ever  live  upon  this  earth  ?  Already  Napoleon 
has  become  a  semi-myth,  an  almost  incredible  tradition 
of  demoniac  force,  an  Attila-scourge,  withheld  only  by 
the  interposition  of  heaven  from  overrunning  the  world. 
And  no  man,  unrebuked,  may  now  whisper  that  our  own 
first  national  hero  ever  laughed  in  his  sleeve  upon  the 
consummation  of  a  horse  trade.  Time  would  fain  have 
it  so,  and  poetry  demands  it.  Let  us  therefore  forget 
of  Montezuma  that,  like  Homer,  he  may  be  a  compos- 
ite hero.  Let  him  have  all  his  halo  and  at  least  half 
a  dozen  ways  of  spelling  his  name.  Let  him  be  prince 
and  prophet  and  redeemer  to  a  mysterious  people 
whose  minds  cannot  grasp  our  finer  symbols  of  divinity. 
Let  him  be  the  personification  of  a  heathen  idea  which, 
stubborn  as  the  Pueblos  themselves,  still  dwells  in  the 
canons  of  New  Mexico. 


WE  GO  A-FISHING. 


MOUNTAIN  TROUT  AND  QUAIL. 


HE    Pecos    River  is  one  of  the  best  trout 
streams  in  the  United  States.     The  trout 
do  not  attain  the  size  of  those  in  the  Rio 
Grande    in    the    State  of   Colorado,    but   in 
number  and  voracity  they  satisfy  the  greedi- 
est carrier  of  a  creel.     Rarely  weighing  less 
than  half  a  pound,  they  often  tip  the  scale 
at  over  a  pound,  and  two-pounders  are  not 
infrequently  taken.     Four  miles  beyond  the 
Pecos  Church,  almost  on  the  river  bank  and 
in  the  heart  of  the  best  fishing,  is  a  comfort- 
able ranch-house,    where   excellent    accommo- 
dations in  the  way  of  meals  and  lodging  may  be 
obtained.     Here,  also,  is  the  location  of  a  pro- 
posed National  Park. 

For  many  miles  the  stream  offers  the  perfection  of 
fly-fishing.     Here  and  there  are  pools  too  deep  for 
wading,  but  the  fisherman  equipped  with  hip- 
boots  is  seldom  forced  to  the  bank.       l^^^^^^^JL 
Following  the  winding  shallows,    Mm  i'V- 

the  entire  stream  may  be  whipped, 
left    and    right,    and    every 
lurking-place  under  project- 
ing   shore    and    bough    ex- 


43 


plored  with  a  cast  of  flies.  In  a  delightful  three  days 
upon  this  river,  the  writer  recalls  but  two  occasions 
of  even  momentary  embarrassment  to  his  leader  by 
bush  or  branch,  and  the  avidity  with  which  the  Pecos 
trout  rise  to  a  fly,  and  the  determination  with  which 
they  resist  capture,  has  rarely  been  equaled  in  his 
experience. 

What  manner  of  soul  has  he  who  does  not  love  to 
drop  a  cast  across  the  translucent  riffles   of  a  stream 


LAKE  AT   EL  PORVENIR. 

that  chatters  endlessly  over  sand  and  pebble  and 
ledge,  through  glimpses  of  field  and  wood  and  gorge, 
under  a  friendly  sky?  In  every  seductive  shoal  there 
lies  a  tremendous  moment  of  suspense,  an  absorbing 
riddle  one  never  wearies  of  guessing.  The  powerful 
and  somewhat  complex  charm  of  fishing  is  not  com- 
prehended by  those  who  depreciate  the  sport.  It  was 
not  the  size,  or  number,  or  greediness  of  the  trout 
that  made  old  Walton  declare  that  "other  joys  are  but 
toys";  and  if  the  trout  imagine  they  alone  make  or 


unmake  the  fisherman's  joy  they  are  a  fatuous  lot  —  his 
main  business  is  with  the  brooding  mother  of  us  all. 
'  There  are  those  who  would  have  us  think  that  the 
sportsman  is  a  barbarian  —  that  he  who  can  complacently 
asphyxiate  inoffensive  fishes  and  slaughter  innocent 
birds  has  not  attained  to  perfect  civilization — is,  in  fact, 
hopelessly  below  that  state  of  grace.  Although  New 
Mexican  trout  are  a  comparatively  easy  prey,  the  hunter 
of  mountain  quail,  to  be  quite  candid,  is  not  necessarily 
so  murderous  in  fact  as  in  appearance.  The  question 
of  the  fate  of  an  uprising  quail  never  outgrows  the  small 
dignity  of  a  riddle  with  many  gunners.  "  Shall  I  get 
him?"  That  is  their  query.  Thev  ^^ 

guess  with  the  right  barrel, 
often  guess  again  with  the 
left,    and   not  infrequently 
after  both  guesses  find  them- 
selves  without  a 
pang  of  conscience 
—  and  without  the 
bird. 


He  who]  cares  to  try 
his  hand  at  mountain 
quail  will  find  an  abund- 
ance of  two  very  spright- 
ly varieties  of  that  game- 
bird  in  numberless  New 
Mexican  localities.  The 
tyro  will  need  all  his 
self-command  in  the  first 
few  encounters.  These 
quail  are  fleet-footed,  and 
take  to  their  wings  re- 
luctantly, preferring  at 
first  to  attempt  escape 
by  running.  A  sharp 
pursuit  forces  them  to 
flight,  and  as  a  covey 
usually  numbers  scores, 
and  sometimes  even 
hundreds,  the  clatter  of 
their  simultaneous  upris- 
ing is  extremely  discon- 
certing to  inexperienced 
nerves.  Their  flight  is 

t,  and  upon  this  fact  is  based  the  only  effectual 
method  of  hunting  them.  One  must  pursue,  and  shoot 
without  regard  to  bagging,  until  several  rapid  flushings 
and  repeated  salvos  have  robbed  them  of  confidence 
in  their  legs  and  wings.  Then  they  scatter  and  lie 
close.  At  this  juncture  only  is  a  dog  serviceable, 
and  fair  sport  may  be  had  without  one,  as  after 
the  birds  have  been  thus  bewildered  they  will  lie 
until  the  ground  has  been  pretty  thoroughly  beaten  up, 


46 


and  will  offer  successive  singles  and  doubles  in  abun- 
dance as  they  are  closely  approached. 

It  is  mainly  in  the  first 
stages  of  pursuit,  as  above 
described,  that  the  habits 
of  the  mountain  quail  are 
seen  to  differ  from  those 
of  his  Eastern  brother,  Bob 
White.  When  the  work 
has  fairly  begun,  the  sports- 
man will  find  him  as  sud- 
den and  swift  a  target  as 
Bob  himself,  and  capable 
of  carrying  off  quite  as 
many  stray  pellets  of  lead. 
For  despite  inferiority  of 
size  and  greater  delicacy 
of  plumage,  he  is  a  no  less 
hardy  bird,  powerful  of  wing 
and  tenacious  of  earthly  ex- 
istence. Often  will  he  leave 
a  shower  of  feathers  floating 
in  his  wake  and  make 
some  port  in  safety, 
notwithstanding. 


ANNOUNCEMENT. 


This  is  one  of  a  series  of  publications,  issued 
by  the  Santa  Fe  Route,  descriptive  of  the  vari- 
ous health  and  pleasure  resorts  along  its  line  in 
Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Arizona  and  California* 

Copies  of  the  other  books  will  be  mailed  free 
on  application. 


I 

* 


